Chase the Light
by miss.wanderer
Summary: AU In an attempt to regain what they've lost, Roxas holds onto hope that he believes only Sora can provide. But when finding himself leads to chasing the truth, even Sora hesitates to stand by his side. Loosely VVSR.
1. A Lost Image in Darkness' Embrace

**Darkness' Embrace**  
_Sora | Twilight Town: Fifth World_

His breath came in short bursts and his legs ached, but he kept moving without looking back, too afraid of what he might see. His steps seemed to echo in this darker part of the city, but Sora continued to run just like they told him to; the ice cream man, the pretty lady that ran the café just next to the parlor—they told him and everyone else to run when a mass of black approached. They panicked, screamed, and Sora wasn't sure if Kairi and Riku were alright because he could only hear his own heavy footfalls, a puddle splashing, and his pounding heart. It seemed all too surreal. But that growing shadow, the heavy atmosphere—it made his situation real enough.

As far as Sora knew, he was alone. This part of the city seemed deserted and eerie, like maybe there were things hidden in the corners or within a shadow of a shadow, waiting for him to draw closer. Yet he continued onward.

Kairi and Riku though—they took the twists and turns, hoping for a shortcut, maybe, and they called him over as they ran, but Sora wanted open space. It felt much safer than narrow alleys, and he told them to meet at the station... even though he was pretty sure he was lost, now.

Taking a chance on the possibility he was completely alone, he looked back, stopping in his tracks and breathing harshly.

What had been a swarm of black mass that he was sure chasing him had been reduced to scarce amounts of tiny twitching things, with their yellow glowing eyes and curious wandering. They stood around for a moment, just like Sora, before sinking into the ground, and Sora didn't have time to really catch his breath as he turned and started to run again because he didn't know what would happen if those things caught him—the sight of merging with the ground told him to move, to get away and hope that they didn't catch him because if they did... _if they did_...

His eyes caught sight of movement, of things jumping his way, and frozen to the spot now, Sora could only watch them charge toward him. Their blue bodies were leaping almost in sync, and not knowing what else to do, Sora brought his hands up in an attempt at defending himself. Eyes squeezed shut tightly, he waited for the swarm to hit him, thinking of the possibility that they'd tear him limb from limb, opposed to maybe being dragged into the ground by those shadow things.

But when he felt nothing hit him in the next few seconds, confusion began to haze his mind, and because curiosity teased him, Sora peeked open one eye and saw that those things were rushing past him.

Then there was a low laugh that could only be described as bored, and it sent a shiver down his spine.

"Oh, this is rich," they said, and Sora thought he felt his pulse freeze for a moment, because that voice—

"No wonder why the Heartless are here. Tell me, where have you been?"

—sounded like his own. But he didn't sound like that. Never talked like that.

As he lowered his arms, his eyes opened and met a golden color so intense that Sora actually took a step back. He took another upon seeing his face, mind racing to find a logical solution as a single brow was raised in what could be amusement.

"Who are you!" he tried to shout, but to his dismay it came out like a squeak. Behind him, he heard those things moving, and he didn't want to know what was happening.

"Oh," the stranger seemed to have a sardonic smirk. "You're not him."

He seemed to take pleasure seeing Sora attempting to mask how afraid he really was, stepping around him in what had to be an exaggerated slow walk. Sora followed his every move.

"My Unversed won't hurt you unless I command them to," the other-Sora gestured to them, his voice so hollow that Sora was finding it hard to believe his voice really sounded like that. "They are satisfied doing your job for now. But of course, you're clueless," those gold eyes studied his face, trailing down. Sora felt just a bit violated. "You're smaller than I remember."

"Who are you?" he tried again, fists clenching. He wanted to take another step away, but he was still being circled. There was a predatory aura about this stranger, and Sora definitely didn't like it.

"I'm you."

He must have misheard. "You—what?"

He was smiling now. Tiny and looking very out of place, but it was a smile. "Call me Vanitas."

Sora didn't have time to say anything else when Vanitas snapped his fingers. All of a sudden there was a swirl of darkness embracing him, cold and unpleasant and making him want to scream. It chilled him to the bone, and yet when opened his mouth to let out any sort of noise, it swallowed him.

* * *

**Lost Image**  
_Roxas_ | _Twilight Town: Fifth World_

Roxas regained control of his breath as he slew the last Heartless in the area, pulling up his hood to obscure his face from the light. It was a pitiful little thing; smallest Shadow of the batch that probably wasn't harmless. But then he reminded himself that they grew fast, and struck it with his Keyblade before it had the chance to escape. His arms ached from fighting, but knowing that he wasn't out of danger yet, his Keyblades remained in his grip.

It seemed that he wasn't the only one defending the city. It would've taken him longer to exterminate a group of Shadows alone, maybe a few minutes less if Vanitas was with him, but this... this was done so quickly that it was obvious whoever else was fighting alongside him used also used a Keyblade. Unversed could only do so much, and Vanitas was lazy; he preferred to watch from afar and hunt Heartless rather than confront them. Every world that Sora hadn't been to yet, Vanitas took pleasure in just sitting back and letting his miniature army do all the work. Other times they found places that had Heartless control, which in turn meant Unversed were unwelcome as the quality of darkness categorized them with the enemy, so it was a rare and oddly uncomfortable sight to see Vanitas with his own Keyblade, slashing away at darkness that held such a similar essence to his own.

Quickly scanning the area, Roxas then took off to where he felt another wielder could be; where the trams parked, close to the wall leading to the forest. So far, that feeling was never wrong, but most times there were Heartless around. Usually he found Riku, and that always meant having to challenge him even after backing him up. Not that it was hard or anything; Roxas was used it by now. Riku was always the same, using his affinity only when needed to. The only problem was not knowing how much was too much and if he could control it properly or not.

His path lead to a clearing where darkness seemed to manifest, the feeling quite intense and making him focus just in case there was a stray Shadow or anything bigger around. It was much more... wild than Vanitas' and Riku's, and it caused the hairs on his nape to stand on end. He gripped the Keyblade in his right hand tighter, lifting to point at where the inky swirls seemed to gather, and let magic run through his arm and into his black Keyblade. He felt Oblivion grow warmer in his hand before it released a ball of fire, straight at the darkness.

That's when he heard blades cutting through the air.

As soon as he heard the sound, Oathkeeper was brought up to block the blow, leaving his arm tingling at the force. His knees bent and feet spread apart, Roxas tried to overpower what he sensed was a Heartless by pushing against it, only to curse when he noticed glowing red and orange. His other blade came up to swing, but the Heartless let out a burst of fire that sent him flying away, his Keyblades dropping out of his hands as he rolled. He didn't have time to even groan, having to dodge a blade coming toward his chest, scrambling to get back up and away from the thing; Heat Sabers were troublesome and he didn't stock on any ice charms before he came here. It seemed to slash at nothing once he was well out of its way, as if it were blind, and Roxas' fingers twitched to hold his weapons that he had let go. If it was attacking nothing, then it must be looking for him, but he couldn't cast or defend himself without them...

He called Oblivion into his hand.

The reaction was instant—it turned to his direction and leaped high into the air, its fiery blades pointed towards him, and all Roxas could do was dodge roll out of the way and edge toward Oathkeeper. Heart beating frantically, he took a breath and gripped Oblivion in both hands, watching it spin and become a red and orange blur. Maybe he could cast aero and knock it off balance? No, he needed ice magic, and it was Vanitas that had it this time.

Deciding that attacking head on was the only plausible option, Roxas ran toward his other weapon, jumping when flames came in his direction and thankful that his fire resistance was high enough. The Heat Saber stumbled his way, its blades glowing and slashes growing more frantic the closer he got to Oathkeeper, and Roxas wondered what would happen if he just called it into his hand. Probably the same as before, and he really didn't want to risk it.

He kept an eye on the berserk thing, frowning as it spun and swung at nothing in particular. This wasn't normal behavior for Emblems... although his experience with the elemental blade wielders was only with two others previously, and that was with Sora by his side. They didn't jerk to their Keyblades being summoned, nor attacked air for absolutely no reason. It was disconcerting knowing that it was able to seem like it was in a blind rage.

But it was a Heartless and that was meant to be impossible.

Moving quickly, Roxas pulled Oathkeeper up by the key chain, throwing it in the air slightly to catch it by the handle. As soon as it was secured in his grip, he lunged toward the Heartless, Oblivion readily pulled back to attack; it paused in its repetitive dance to turn its head in Roxas' direction, and as he brought his favored Keyblade to assault the thing, he was met with a gradient of red as their weapons met and pushed against each other.

Every swing, every jab, the Heat Saber met and dodged his attacks effortlessly, while Roxas found himself losing footing and having to grip tighter so that his weapons wouldn't fall out of his hands. But the sheer force being used was too much, and he was taking steps back with each blow even though he wasn't the one putting on a defensive stance before; the tables had turned and his arms ached even more.

Sparks flew; Oblivion released black smoke with each hit, blending with the darkness surrounding them. Roxas was losing his breath, trying to create distance between he and the Heartless, but its swings were relentless and quick, and he knew that he was going to lose.

His favored Keyblade went first, clattering across the concrete and vanishing in a puff of smoke, and Roxas knew that Oathkeeper would return to the light soon enough without its partner. He didn't have enough energy to summon another Keyblade, but what he had was enough to keep Oathkeeper on its own for a while; he could see the glow beginning to dull, a sign that he would be on his own soon.

It was getting harder to block the attacks, and Roxas could feel his legs growing weak along with his energy slipping, hood falling back as he tried to escape burning blades. He stumbled, leaning on a wall and ducking as the Heat Saber thrust a burning tip at his face, casting aero despite knowing how weak it was, but it pushed the Heartless away from him. Up into the air it went, just as Oathkeeper faded from his hand.

There wasn't any point trying to summon another Keyblade. Maybe if Vanitas or even Riku was close by then Oblivion could be called again, but they weren't and the Heartless would recover from its fall at any moment. Roxas was defenseless, but that didn't mean he was going to run away from it. The thing would rampage through the city, and his duty was to help clean up the mess until he found the Sora or Riku of this world to make sure that they could use their Keyblades.

It came crashing down, dust flying up and mingling with the swirls of black smoke, the ground shaking from the impact. Roxas took a breath, eyes narrowed at where the Heartless was as he made to pull up his hood again, waiting for it to stand. No way it would've been weakened by a mere fall from a weak spell.

But just as the dust started to clear, so did the darkness. The area seemed to be a little brighter and felt less dangerous, a little warmer. Confusion settled in his mind as he let out a breath he hadn't realized was being held, eyes scanning the area. It was empty, save for the boxes and the dent left on the ground. Roxas took a hesitant step forward, just as he heard hurried footfalls getting closer to where he was.

"Hey!"

Startled, he turned to face from where he entered, seeing... no, it couldn't be. He wasn't meant to be here—he wasn't meant to be anywhere but that one place—good god, what the hell was going on in this world?

"Hey, are you alright? You shouldn't be here, oh man—" this other person, this boy, approached Roxas with such a concerned face that he had a hard time believing that he was here too. "It's dangerous here, but not now at least. Uh, sorry, I'm Ventus, but you can call me Ven!"

The over-cheerful demeanor was so, so much like Sora's. He tensed when Ventus stood right by him, luckily unable to see his face. "This kinda thing doesn't happen often here; ah, well, nothing usually ever happens in this area at least..."

He was nervous. Ventus was nervous. It made him relax a little, for some reason. He was babbling still. His _name_ was Ventus.

Roxas didn't know what it meant, but maybe one of the others knew. He reached up to pull down his hood, making Ventus stop in the middle of his sentence when he moved, and watched as those mirrored eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. If there was one thing he knew, it was that this world was definitely not on the radar for anyone else, and there was only one thing he could do, to protect himself and other-self.

Licking his lips, he gently grabbed hold of Ventus' arms. "I need to hide you."


	2. He Who Holds the Keychains

Disclaimer: hahahahhahaa yeah totally. My name is so on the credits~ =v=

* * *

**Key**  
_Vanitas | Twilight Town: Unknown_

The darkness was a prestige gift, given to those that could withstand the dark corridors and with a heart strong enough to contain it. It was power; was what kept him alive. Too bad not everyone found the darkness to be so warm.

Bringing Sora back here was amusing in the sense that he couldn't stop shivering, but Vanitas supposed that without that black coat, or anything to counter the darkness, then he'd be a miserable mess, too. The boy was draped in layers of blankets, courtesy of Roxas' home, a mug of hot chocolate steaming before him and the fireplace burning brightly beside him. Maybe bringing him here wasn't such a grand idea after all, but Vanitas believed that doing so would keep him safe. It was always his mission to make sure that precious little _Sora_ was safe, for if anything happened to him, then Roxas would be at his throat. Again.

So would Riku, but after realizing...

"Perhaps a hot shower will do you good instead?" talking to him was proving to be futile too, as he was just staring blankly ahead, clutching onto the fabric. Being ignored was not something Vanitas enjoyed very much.

Coming to stand in front of him, Vanitas crouched down. It felt like he was talking to a child; which, in a way, Sora was. This one, at least. There was a distant look in those eyes that had him scowling at the sight, familiar and unwanted and worrying—but he wasn't going to show that. Not when he already portrayed himself as confident (arrogant) to the boy.

A gloved hand reached out to touch his face, knuckles brushing against soft cheeks that felt all the same and causing a different shiver entirely; Sora looked up at him with wariness dancing in his deep blue eyes. They reminded him of Roxas and a far off memory that he wanted to forget.

He wanted to forget Sora's face in general.

"Drink up, or I'll drag you under scalding water."

There was a frown, and he seemed to shrink back as the words slipped past Vanitas' lips, and truth be told, Vanitas didn't know why it came out as a threat. It wasn't meant to. Maybe it was just the way he was now.

As he straightened himself, Vanitas reached behind him to grab hold of the mug. Beneath his fingertips it felt like it was burning, but he showed no sign of pain; only held it out for Sora to take. Trembling lips parted, maybe to say something, but soon closed as Sora took his drink, using the blankets as mittens to lessen the heat.

Watching this boy made him feel sick.

"You're taking a shower after that." Vanitas stated, eyes narrowing as Sora took a tentative sip. "And then it's back home."

"I don't know if I'm meant to be afraid or thank you," Sora mumbled, but Vanitas' hearing was sharp. Sora obviously didn't think he was heard. "You shouldn't be thanking me."

Sora blinked, his cheeks tinged with a touch of pink as he looked up into molten eyes; wide and curious, replacing the blankness. Vanitas couldn't help the sigh that escaped, straightening and crossing his arms. In the end, Sora was still Sora. Sometimes he got it right away, other times he avoided Vanitas as much as possible or shied from conversations and contact. "This place is worse than where the Heartless are."

"Then why'd you bring me here?"

"It's safe from them."

A pause combined with a confused stare, and then, "How is this worse?"

Ah, so he was leaning towards _that_ Sora. Riku's Sora. Not oblivious Sora that hung onto Roxas' every word, but then again, that only lasted so long. But there was something else, too. While they were all essentially the same person, there were small traits that differed them from one another, and Vanitas sought that difference. However, Sora's curiosity was a default.

It would never change.

"You'll understand when you meet Roxas."

That confused expression remained, earning a smirk and a subtle head lilt. He was starting to like this Sora a lot more than the others, and that was saying a lot. This Sora was definitely more naïve in comparison to _that_ Sora. Naïve like how Riku knew him to be.

"What's he like, anyway?"

"An idiot." He received an unimpressed look. Vanitas only shrugged, holding back from mocking Sora's lack of expressions—different. This Sora was only just different. "You have to meet him to know."

Watching Sora bite his lip and grasp the mug tighter made Vanitas raise a brow and cock his head. Did the thought of meeting Roxas strike anxiousness? Unlikely. If anything, they all stayed close to him until they found a reason to take lead. Except for _that_ Sora, but...

"Are you gonna explain what those things were?"

..._that_ Sora didn't tolerate him at all, and Vanitas couldn't understand why Roxas clung onto him. He couldn't understand why he clung onto any of them when the result was mostly the same.

"Finish your drink, then shower," he commanded, knowing that Sora wouldn't argue this early on about his abruptness. "There are clothes in the wardrobe. I'll be back when you're done."

He had to remind himself that this Sora wasn't like that Sora—yet. It was only a matter of time, though.

* * *

**Chain**  
_Roxas | Twilight Town: Fifth World_

Ventus' hand felt very much like his own. Clasped tightly, Roxas navigated them through narrow alleyways, ignoring the pleas to stop. It was too dangerous to stop, and so they continued to run, despite the resisting tugs.

It was a good thing that Roxas knew Twilight Town like the back of his hand, even though he didn't know exactly why he did—suspicion lead to maybe it was his hometown before he lost his memories; before Sora found him. The atmosphere was nostalgic enough not to doubt it.

"Just—stop! Hey!"

Turning left to enter one of the tunnel entrances, Roxas sensed a force of light that had him attuned to his surroundings more, his head craning around to take a look at Ventus and eyebrows raising in surprise at the sight of a Keyblade in Ventus' hand, arm raised. Abruptly letting go and sidestepping out of the way, Roxas dodged just in time, avoiding being hit.

If Vanitas were here, he'd surely say how this made things much more interesting.

With no strength to call upon his own preferred blades—not even the Kingdom Key would come to his aide when he was so low on magic— Roxas warily stepped back, eying how Ventus held his weapon. He held it in reverse grip; Roxas only ever witnessed Sora and Riku handling their own blades like this when they needed to keep up rapid hits, or if they picked it up with no time to change the position. Not preferable for how straight they were, and definitely not as effective. That didn't seem to be the case for Ventus, though.

But it didn't seem like he was in a stance to attack, and he was glad for that. Must've been a warning swing. If anything, Ventus looked relieved that Roxas finally let go.

"Listen—I don't know why we're running, but we're safe enough."

"And yet you called your Keyblade."

His could-be other looked surprised. "Y-you know what this is?"

Shrugging, Roxas held out his hand and willed the Keyblade to him. The way it curved toward Ventus' elbow must've been for balance. The shaft was short, perhaps to lessen the awkward handling as it was likely the weight of each end differed. There was resistance in his summoning, so it didn't appear in his hand, but Ventus seemed to understand what he was trying to do. "Oh, wow."

The surprise on his identical face made Roxas wonder, was he like that too?

"I can sense the darkness still," Roxas said, reaching for Ventus' hand again and receiving a wary glance in return. "We need to keep moving. Sunset Hill should be safe for us to talk."

"And... we're walking there?" Ventus dismissed his weapon, light flaring around his entire arm due to the way he held it, but didn't take the offered hand. "The tunnels are relatively safe. I haven't encountered Heartless at all."

He took the lead, beckoning Roxas to follow and smiling slightly, and so Roxas matched his pace, pondering on Ventus' unique weapon. That wasn't his priority though. "Then you can tell me when they started coming."

"Not long," Ventus didn't question how Roxas seemed to know Twilight Town, nor his knowledge of what the Heartless were. Then again, Roxas had no reason to ask him either; if he was a wielder then they had the same goal. "A few months I guess."

But it was surprising how easily Ventus trusted him. Perhaps it was the fact they shared the same face, or maybe knowing that they shared the same goal for the moment. Better than Riku's help-then-attack strategy.

Surprisingly, their journey through the tunnels came with no problems, although it felt like there was a Heartless present in the one next to Central Station which caused them to be more cautious. It disappeared when they changed their route to pursue, and Roxas worried it may have been that Heat Saber, though the walls remained their gradient of bronze. They made it to Sunset Terrace not long after.

The atmosphere was a lot safer than Roxas expected it to be. Maybe this world didn't need them after all.

"There's a barrier set up here," Ventus said when he noticed Roxas' thoughtful expression. "You know, you're not the first traveler I've met."

That explained the lack of caution. But it wouldn't be the same case for the citizens here. Once again, he pulled his hood low enough to obscure his face; not exactly how he liked to wear it, especially when Twilight Town, no matter which world, felt like home. Ventus kept glancing at him every few seconds, curiosity evident although it seemed he was trying to hide it by not saying a thing. Roxas remained nonvocal in case someone decided to take a closer look.

Luckily, their trip toward Sunset Hill lacked any encounter with the citizens, aside from some children loitering about the base of the hill. Ventus greeted them and Roxas blended in with the shadows, watching how he smiled like the town didn't have any Heartless trying to consume this world at all.

"You can take that off now." Ventus reached to pull down Roxas' hood, his fingertips brushing against the material as Roxas sidestepped again, shaking his head. "It's better this way."

"Better how? It feels kinda weird having to talk to someone that defines the word 'creepy'. Black coat, hidden face? C'mon."

There was a tug at his sleeve, pulling him toward the bench. Funny how Ventus had no problem dragging him instead.

Once they were seated, Roxas felt his hood slip from his head; Ventus was grinning like he just won the Nobel prize. "I'm not sure about you, but I feel more comfortable facing someone I can actually see."

Roxas wasn't entirely sure he could comment on that. Considering Vanitas wore a mask every now and then (_for battle purposes_, he said) he was quite used to conversing with someone that refused to show their face. It also seemed that despite their urgency to discuss what was going on with this world, they didn't know where to start. For one, this wasn't Roxas' forte, but rather Riku's. He didn't know which questions to ask, but he knew one thing. He needed to hide Ventus from certain people.

"Who else has been here?" he finally asked. Ventus was swinging his legs back and forth, watching the orange sky. "Travelers, I mean."

It couldn't have been Sora or Riku. Maybe Kairi, but she never ventured further than she had to; especially when her Keyblade wouldn't come to her aide in certain worlds. They were the only ones Roxas knew to be searching for a stop to the Heartless. He and Vanitas only tagged along in hopes of finding lost memories and whatever Vanitas was actually looking for.

"Some really good friends of mine; they visit quite often!"

"You know why they do, don't you?"

At this, Ventus shrugged, still swinging his legs. "Aside from the Heartless, there's not much else except for making sure our barrier holds."

Roxas' eyes roamed over his could-be others' face, not entirely sure how to read his expression. It _seemed_ carefree, but he was probably being careful with his answers. Smart. Good, too. "You're not going to tell me what I want to know, are you."

Movements ceasing, Ventus turned his head and gave a smile that could've been described as apologetic. "I'm not even meant to be telling you a single thing."

"You remind me of someone," Roxas couldn't help but smile. "Anyway, you've mentioned a barrier. Are you able to explain that?"

He seemed hesitant at first, gnawing on his bottom lip and tilting his head slightly as he thought it over. How much was he sworn to secrecy? Surely knowing that Roxas could will a Keyblade not his own toward him was enough to know that they were on the same side. Not unless... no, they couldn't have come here already.

"Well, the barrier is to keep Heartless coming from other worlds out," he began slowly, carefully picking his words but enough to let Roxas understand. "Since you're a wielder, then you already know that there's a Keyhole here. It doesn't react to any of my Keyblades, or my friends'."

Roxas nodded, brow furrowing as he thought it through. Nonreactive Keyholes when there were a few wielders around; maybe they needed Sora's vast collection. Likely the barrier was connected to the Keyhole, which meant that with no Keyblade to strengthen the light that the Keyhole provided, Heartless found cracks in the barrier to come through. Ventus sure had a lot on his hands.

"You're the only wielder around?" Roxas asked with a hint of doubt. "That's a lot of Heartless to keep out on your own."

"There are a few of us..." he mumbled, suddenly shy. "But now that you're here, you can help out right?" his eyes shone with hope as their gazes locked. "I mean, it seems like you can use a Keyblade too, so..."

It probably helped that Roxas could detect Heartless locations better than others too. "That's what we're here for."

Ventus jumped up to his feet, startling Roxas and making him blink rapidly when his wrists were grabbed, being pulled at to make him stand as well. "Great! I'll introduce you to Kairi and Riku then!" he exclaimed with a bright smile. "Which reminds me... I didn't catch your name?"

"It's Roxas," he answered, mind racing at the two names mentioned. Familiar, yet odd. What about Sora? Was Sora not here? Is that why Roxas had an image here? This world couldn't be like that other world where none of them but Riku existed. But it reminded him of what he needed to do first.

Pulling away from the gentle grip, Roxas wrapped his arms around Ventus' shoulders and called a dark portal to swallow them. "I said that I need to hide you. I'll take you there."

"Hide me where?"

"Don't worry, you won't be alone." If anything he'd be thrilled to see Kairi. "Hold on tight."

Ventus shivered as the darkness bit his skin.


End file.
